up, and taking out some of the volunteers crowding the garden. By the time they got one side of the garden done, Doreen’s car was surprisingly full. It wasn’t completely full yet, and she could certainly get a lot more in. But it was looking amazingly lush.
And the garden behind them was now looking much better as well, with lots more space between the plants as they raked and moved the bark mulch back and forth to leave the garden looking perfect in every spot. They started on the second side.
“This is a lot of plants,” Heidi said with a laugh.
“As long as you’re giving me only what you don’t want,” Doreen said, “then I’m happy to take them all.”
“Not a problem,” Heidi said.
And they kept working away.
By the time they were done, the car was more than full. “Wow,” Doreen said.
“There are still more outside the fence,” Heidi smiled, “if you want some of those.” She looked at the car doubtfully. “I’m not sure you have any room though.”
“I can get more in,” Doreen told her. Then she muttered to herself, “Of course who knows just how many it’ll be?”
Outside the fence, they wandered along the beautiful phlox and another wandering plant, plus a whole pile of dianthus and carnations. Heidi cut and divided, even though the time of year wasn’t necessarily perfect for pruning or transplanting. Doreen would take them home and give them all the love and care she possibly could.
By next year they would have had six months of growing time, depending on frost, and they would be doing so much better. By the time Doreen and Heidi had done the outside garden, her car was beyond stuffed. She sighed happily. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. It would have taken me a long time to buy or otherwise acquire this many plants.”
“It’s not a problem,” Heidi said. “I’m just delighted I didn’t have to kill all those wonderful plants.”
“No,” Doreen said. “I will be more than happy to put all these in my garden.” Turning, she looked up at the house. “It’s too bad Aretha doesn’t like gardening.”
“She doesn’t like anything that gets her hands dirty,” Heidi said. “We’re as different as chalk and cheese.”
“How did she end up coming to live with you?”
“Well, I’m not too proud to admit that I could use the money, and Aretha wasn’t doing so well at Rosemoor. She was looking for something more private.”
“So, she’s like a boarder?”
Heidi nodded. “Yes. This is my home, and she stays here with me. It’s nice to have the companionship, honestly,” she said, “and she’s a decent cook too. So it’s kind of nice. Between the two of us, we manage quite well together.”
“I’m delighted to hear that,” Doreen said with a smile. “I’d hate to think of her being all alone and unhappy.”
“Exactly,” Heidi said. “And she doesn’t have as much money as she wants everybody to believe. In fact, I don’t think she has very much at all. But, as long as she’s still paying me, I can keep the bills paid here.”
“Is that why you’re doing your own gardening?”
“My ability to keep the team of gardeners around is long gone,” Heidi said. “Times have been tough, and my husband is long gone too. I diversified and made a few difficult judgment decisions on the investments that may not have done me any good. The fact of the matter is, Aretha filled a necessary void for me.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Doreen said.
“You don’t have a job either, do you?” Heidi asked curiously, as she looked at the animals. “My understanding is that Nan gave you the house.”
“She sure did,” Doreen said with a laugh. “I inherited the ancient plumbing, the roof that needs fixing, and the antique furniture crammed from floor to ceiling.”
“Oh, no.” Heidi laughed. “Isn’t that the truth? We get these theoretical gold mines, but it’s up to us to figure out how to get through it all and how to turn the detritus into gold.”
“Exactly,” Doreen said. “But honestly, despite the challenges, I’m having a great time dealing with it.”
“Perfect,” Heidi said. “Anyway, if you ever want any more, just come on back and let me know.”
“If you’re ever dividing more, let me know.”
“It sure looks great right now though.” Heidi motioned around.
“Thank you again, Heidi.” Doreen walked over to the car, calling out to the animals.
Mugs came, and she had to rearrange things to fit him into the car because just so many plants were